Red Velvet Love For YOU!

Well my friends I am finally back home! We arrived late last night, exhausted but safe and sound. Thank you to all of you who left comments and emailed me privately to encourage me to keep my head up and stay positive and to not be bothered by petty anonymous commenters. I appreciate it more than you know. And I definitely felt an abundance of love. So to thank you and to send a little love your way I have these special little cupcakes for you!

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes- ah! Yes I know. I can't take credit for these though. I found them at My Baking Adventures and she got them from Cookie Madness. Either way, they're genius. They combine a wonderfully red and tender cake with a cream cheese center, so there's no need for frosting. They're not very sweet so I guess you could call these muffins but they're much more exciting. I made these before we left on our trip to DC but they would be perfect for your Valentine this weekend.

This cake is made with sour cream, which is unlike any red velvet cake I've ever made, but it worked. They rose and domed perfectly and the cream cheese filling accented them nicely. Since they have cream cheese in them they need to be refrigerated but their flavor tastes best with the chill taken off of them. So allow them to sit at room temp for a bit before serving or heat them ever so slightly. The only thing I would change next time is to add more filling and up the cream cheesiness. That's never a bad thing. Another good thing about these cupcakes is that this recipe has already been cut down to make 8-9 cupcakes so you don't end up with so many leftover.

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes from Cookie Madness via My Baking Adventures

Filling:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons lightly beaten egg (break egg, mix with fork, measure)
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Batter:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 tablespoons sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8 (I needed 9) muffin cups with paper liners.

Prepare filling first. With a mixing spoon, beat together softened cream cheese and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and stir until smooth. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a second mixing bowl, stir together oil, sugar, vinegar, egg, red food coloring, vanilla and sour cream. Mix very well, then add the flour mixture and stir just until blended.

Measure out approximately 1/3 cup red mixture and set aside. Divide remaining red mixture among the 8 muffin cups – each cup should be a little over 1/3 of the way full. Spoon cream cheese mixture over red mixture, dividing evenly between all cups. Drop small spoonfuls of reserved red batter on top of cream cheese mixture, making a bulls-eye pattern.

Bake for 20-23 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Carefully remove lift muffins from cups.

Best served slightly chilled. – Makes 8-9

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you love. We plan on staying home and making dinner together (ie. I make dinner and Mr. H eats it!) or going to my moms for Sunday dinner, which is something we do often. Either way, there will be chocolate!

Sending lots of red velvet love to you all!

Me & The White House

I don't like confrontation. I avoid it at all costs and when I am confronted or I have to confront someone else I feel sick to my stomach. I get flushed and my hands start shaking and I get extremely anxious. Obviously that is not who I am.

So when "Anonymous" left a comment saying she didn't appreciate my lack of insensitivity regarding the "blizzard" conditions in DC, I apologized. I apologized to her and those that may have been offended by what I said. But you know what? I stand by what I said and what I still feel towards the situation. Everyone is entitled to feel the way they want to. I don't feel that Anonymous is wrong in her feelings toward me but I don't necessarily think that she was correct either.

My apology was sincere, though she felt otherwise. My point was (and I thought I made that pretty clear) was that everyone is allowed to have differing opinions about recipes, weather, politics etc. I'm okay with not seeing eye to eye with everyone. But I am a people pleaser and it hurts a little to be befriended because I blogged about the snow and someone didn't like it. She is no longer a reader of mine because I "singled" her out in my last post. But I'm pretty sure that's what she did to me by singling out one thing that I said about the weather conditions. So should I stop being her friend? I don't have that option though because I don't know who she is. And even if I knew who this person was doesn't mean I would stop liking them. I realize that I allow people to leave anonymous comments but if someone feels that strongly about a situation then why not leave your name? Stand up for what you believe in and don't feel ashamed to defend that.

And just so you know, I am half white and half hispanic. I am 28 years old. But I've been known to lie about my age because I always feel older than I actually am. So really I'm only 27. I'm married with 2 pets and live in Texas. I am a mother but do not have any living children. I drive a gas guzzling SUV and I leave the water on while I brush my teeth. I like fake mashed potatoes and I just discovered the amazing qualities of the S.O.S. pad. I am a Democrat and have been for as long as I can remember. I am pro-life but believe a woman has the right to make her own choice. I do not smoke, drink or do drugs but I occasionally cuss like a sailor. I can be lazy and my husband does all the laundry while I sit on the couch and watch. I don't go to church as often as I should but that's between my God and I. I have big feet and don't like onions or peas. I am a part time nanny and I can't stand 3 pronged forks. This is who I am. Take it or leave it. That is your choice.

Snow: Round 2

We're still in DC and it's snowing again! It really is so pretty. The flakes just fall on the tip of your nose and melt. It's been so long since I've actually seen this much snow and while I'm glad to be a part of this weather that the area is experiencing, but it makes for lousy travelling conditions, no? We were scheduled to leave out of here tomorrow morning (Wednesday) but we've been delayed until Thursday evening. And that's still not a definite.

To those of you who are unaware of why we came to DC at this time of year during this crazy weather... we came for a military funeral. We didn't know that there was supposed to be so much snow until the day before we left and the service was Monday morning. Leaving yesterday was not an option and flights have been cancelled today and tomorrow so we are at the mercy of mother earth. If we were just on vacation for pure pleasure then we would have rescheduled.

An anonymous commenter left a comment on my last post about the snow and seemed to be offended by the fact that I didn't feel the weather here was indeed a blizzard. I guess the beauty of it all is that we're allowed to have differing opinions. I am certainly not offended by those of you who disagree with me. That's kind of like when I complain that 40 degrees F in Texas is cold when it's in the teens in other parts of the states and people tell me I'm a wimp. It's all a matter of opinion and it all depends on what you're accustomed to and should be taken with a grain of salt. No malice was intended.

Anonymous, I'm sorry that you felt I was making light of the extreme weather the northeast coast is experiencing. I, in no way think that this is a joke. I never said that and I don't feel that way. I did mention that this storm is/was dangerous and people were stranded at home and living without electricity. Buildings were damaged and trees collapsed. Traffic is horrible (if you can even manage to get your car dug out of the mound of snow it hides underneath) and a lot of businesses are suffering because of it. I get that. The poor lady who delivered breakfast to our room Friday morning is still here at the hotel on a Tuesday! She's been living at the hotel because she can't get home because public transportation isn't running. She has been working double shifts because they're understaffed and is working from 6am-2pm, then she takes a nap and goes back to work from 3-11 pm. No, I do not take that lightly and I greatly appreciate her all the men and women who are doing the same.

I've seen a blizzard. Well not in person. But I've seen pictures of a blizzard (in Texas, mind you)and the snow was covering my grandma's house like a tidal wave! They opened the front door and they were met with a wall of white! That to me is a blizzard. But if you haven't seen that, then I would understand why you felt otherwise. I acknowledge the DC area is indeed experiencing a lot of snow and wind and it is overwhelming. So please don't think that because our visions are different that I am being insensitive to the regions of people who are in the midst of this snowstorm.

I could go on but I won't. I just wanted to update you all with where we are and let you know why I haven't visited your blogs in a few days. And also to let you know that I appreciate each and every one of you who subscribe to my blog, to those of you who have added me to your favorites list, to those of you who email me to tell me that I inspire you. That is so humbling to me and it overwhelms me sometimes by how many people actually read my blog. I thank each and every one of you who stop by and encourage me. You are the reason why I continue to do this. I would never purposely say anything that would offend or hurt you in any way. If I have please accept my sincere apologies.

Monica